Three Davenport High Schools Partner to Put on Mega Musical
Summer is supposed to be relaxing for many high school students, but this one has been extra busy for Davenport Central senior Micah Roldan, as he prepares for the lead role of a lifetime.
He is portraying the iconic Jean Valjean of the musical “Les Miserables,” the first time all Davenport high schools have collaborated on presenting an all-district show. Davenport is also unique in the Quad Cities as the only city with multiple public high schools (North, West, Central and Mid-City).
Roldan (who loves musical theater) was not familiar with “Les Miz” before he tried out, though he knew the title. After he got the role, “I have completely fallen in love with it,” Roldan said at Central on Tuesday. “I love it so much, it’s so cool I get to be part of it.”
While rehearsing for “Les Miz,” he also was in the cast of Countryside Community Theatre’s “Hairspray” (playing Link). When rehearsals started for “Les Miz” in June, the high school practices mostly were daytime (like noon to 6 p.m.), and Roldan would go straight from there to “Hairspray” rehearsals (from 6 to 10 p.m.).
The classic logo for the massive musical, which debuted on Broadway in 1987 and ran 16 years and 6,680 performances — at the time the second longest-running show in Broadway history, now number 6.
“I was definitely a busy bee, so it was nice to have those days in the summer,” Roldan said. “It was definitely tricky to juggle, but I think it was worth it.”
He’s also one of four drum majors in Central’s marching band (involved every year of high school), which had 9-to-5 rehearsals the past two weeks, before school started Aug. 25.
“It’s so cool to work with other directors,” Roldan said of this summer. “Not being in my Central bubble, and being at other schools, other theaters. Being with other high school students, it’s such an experience I don’t think I’ll ever forget. It’s so interesting, and becoming friends with people from other areas of the district is super fun and I’ve loved the experience.”
Befitting a massive, sweeping show with flag-waving, inspirational, uplifting, and romantic messages, it’s taken a virtual army of school staff and students to mount this unprecedented production.
“Les Miz” will be performed at Davenport Central High School, 1120 Main St., over four days — at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Aug. 28-30), and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31.
Mason VanScoy is Marius, in a scene with Mary VanSpeybrock as Cosette in the new Davenport district-wide production of “Les Miserables,” running Aug. 28-31 (photo by Avenue Studios).
The Tony-winning musical — with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, and a book by Schönberg and Boublil – is based on the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. Set in early 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells the story of Jean Valjean, a French peasant, and his desire for redemption.
After stealing a loaf of bread for his sister’s starving child, Valjean is imprisoned for 19 years and released in 1815, according to a synopsis. When a bishop inspires him with a tremendous act of mercy, Valjean breaks his parole and starts his life anew and in disguise. He becomes wealthy and adopts an orphan, Cosette. A police inspector named Javert pursues Valjean over the decades in a single-minded quest for “justice.” The characters are swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists attempts to overthrow the government at a street barricade in Paris.
“Les Miz” has played continuously in London since 1985, making it the longest-running musical in West End history. On Broadway, it ran from 1987 to 2003, and at its closing had 6,680 performances, then the second-longest running Broadway show. It has been done several times in the Quad Cities, including at Music Guild (summer 2014) and Circa ‘21 (early 2015).
Thea Hunter, the theater director at Davenport Central for 17 years, is artistic director for the new “Les Miz,” overseeing the entire production (nearly all sung-through), which has 47 students on stage, and another 47 working in the crew and orchestra pit.
Drama teachers at Davenport North and Central have discussed collaborating on a show for a few years, talking about it occasionally at Iowa Thespian Festival at University of Northern Iowa.
Avenue Meumann plays Javert in the new production of “Les Miserables,” running at Davenport Central, Aug. 28-31 (photo by Avenue Studios).
“We all get along so well as directors, we are friends too,” Hunter said Tuesday, noting she’s close with Ryan Riewerts, director of choral activities at North. They proposed doing it last fall to the school district, which supported the project, she said.
“Everything is paid for by the district this first year,” Hunter said. The show does have financial sponsors and if they do another show in two years, it would have to be independently funded, she added.
Coordinating many schedules
Scheduling was the hardest part of making it all work over the summer, with the three schools and students (Mid-City doesn’t have any on-stage participants). Hunter credited Central’s assistant principal, Alissa Hansel, with putting all the pieces together. She’s in charge of the school’s fine arts program.
“She really wanted to make sure we started successful,” Hunter said. Central had conflicts with marching band camps over the summer. “She went one-on-one with every single teacher, to get their info and make sure it could work. The other directors got the other schools, and she took all of that and made our calendar work.”
Auditions were in mid-June, and rehearsals first started during the day at North, four days a week. The show had a week off starting July 28, and returned to rehearsals at Central on Aug. 4, five days a week, switching to evening rehearsals in mid-August. There are four Sudlow junior-high students in the cast, which is comprised mainly of North and Central kids (split pretty evenly), and four from Davenport West.
The book director is Jo Vasquez (a veteran QC actress who is a counselor at North), Riewerts is music director, pit director is John Whitson, North’s assistant director of choral activities, and assistant stage director is Zach Zelnio, an English teacher at West.
Spencer Powell (in hat) and Alex Colton in the new Davenport school production of “Les Miserables,” running Aug. 28-31 (photo by Avenue Studios).
The Davenport high school music departments collaborate on an annual holiday concert at the Adler Theatre, but this is the first time theater departments have done a district-wide show.
They chose “Les Miz” partly because it was a big, “juggernaut” of a show, Hunter said. “We were bold. It’s such a very difficult – pretty much non-stop music, and to have kids that don’t know each other well work together.”
“The plus was that Jo, the book director, was assistant director for me for seven years,” she added. “We already had a flow together.”
One football player in the ensemble has to miss Friday’s performance for his team’s first game.
“Everyone has been super supportive,” Hunter said. “We have three football players in the cast, and their coaches have been awesome.”
There are a lot of costumes for the show, which are handled by Janet Gillhouse (who’s done Central shows for 19 years).
Performing since age 3
Roldan, the Central senior, started doing theater at age 3, at Davenport Junior Theatre, and has had community theater roles at Music Guild (“Matilda” in 2021), and Countryside, including “In the Heights” in 2024.
Roldan was Link in CCT’s “Hairspray,” which performed the last weekend of July and first weekend of August. (Coincidentally, Central did “Hairspray” as its spring 2025 show.)
At Central, he’s made All-State Choir all three years, and is in the show choir (this is his third year). His favorite shows at Central have been “Mamma Mia” (his sophomore year) and “Ride the Cyclone” (junior year). The latter has been one of his favorite musicals and said it was super fun to do.
Roldan was among three Central students who performed May 29 as a “Triple Threat” nominee for the Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards Showcase in Des Moines.
The stirring anthem “Do You Hear the People Sing” (led by Daniel Zawatzki as Enjolras, center) in the new Davenport production of “Les Miserables,” running Aug. 28-31 (photo by Avenue Studios).
Mason VanScoy, a Davenport North sophomore, plays the major “Les Miz” role of Marius, in his first show.
“I’m kind of uncultured; I haven’t watched many shows,” he said, noting he had never even heard of “Les Miserables” before auditioning. “I had to watch the movie before we started rehearsals,” VanScoy said. “I did not know what it was at all.”
“It was mostly my friends who were trying out,” he said, adding he was impressed by seeing his school’s “Sweeney Todd” this past spring. He sings tenor in North’s choir and show choir.
“I like the art of music, the storytelling of it,” VanScoy said. “One song can convey so many different emotions.”
The biggest challenge for him was being new to theater, but memorizing was made easier since “Les Miz” is just all music, he said, versus, having to memorize straight dialogue. He’s made a lot of new friends.
VanScoy really enjoys the Central Performing Arts Center, which opened in 2017 (part of a $28-million addition, including a new swimming pool). He plans on being in the next North musical, “Legally Blonde,” in spring 2026.
Davenport West senior Kerstan Truong has been doing show choir and theater since his freshman year, and has been in the play “Figments,” the musical “Freaky Friday” and most recently “The Wizard of Oz” this past May.
“In fact, people in the cast are what I actually love the most about Les Miz,” he said. “I’ve grown so close to those people in such a short amount of time, even though before this, if I were to pass them at another school event I wouldn’t have even reached out. And so I think the all-district musical has truly served its purpose, in not only creating an incredible show- stopping performance, but also building that foundation and sense of community back into the Davenport Community School District.”
Micah Roldan is Valjean and Wrigley Mancha is Fantine in a new Davenport district-wide production of “Les Miserables,” running Aug. 28-31 (photo by Avenue Studios).
The three schools have already decided they want to do another all-district show, but in 2027 at the earliest, Hunter said. She’s been impressed with the fast friendships that have formed among the kids from different schools, including in the pit.
“We introduced them into the pit way early, so they could become part of the whole thing,” Hunter said. “It’s nice.”
They’re going to take the show to the Iowa Thespian Festival, on the weekend of Nov. 14 at the UNI campus in Cedar Falls. The last show Hunter brought to that festival was the smaller musical, “Ordinary Days” two years ago. She’s never done a big show for state Thespian Festival.
Tickets for “Les Miz” are $12 for adults, and $10 for students and seniors, available HERE.
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